We’ve all been there before, you build a blog thinking it’ll bring in enough money to change your life. You pour time into creating and promoting awesome content only to make pennies. An untrained blogger might give up, but not you. You’re smarter than that.

In this post, we’ll look at 5 easy ways to revamp your existing blog for maximum earning potential.

Improve site speed

Did you know that most readers will leave a site if it doesn’t load in one second or less (lame)? We don’t make the rules, but there are a few things you can do to improve your site speed right now.

1. Run page speed test

Test your blogs speed with PageSpeed Insights to see where you can improve and boost load times.

Simply enter your full URL into the text box and click Analyze.

PageSpeed Insights will run a series of test and give you a performance score. A breakdown of the score including helpful metrics shows you areas you can improve. You can drill down into each area to see what contributed to the result.

2. Reduce image sizes

Images are great for creating a visual aid for your readers, but they also take up a lot of space. Use ShortPixel Image Optimizer to compress images so the take up as a little space as possible.

Here’s how you can get started:

Sign up for a ShortPixel account. I recommend purchasing the one-time credit for 10,000 images. It’s only $9.99 and you won’t have to deal with contracts (#winning!).
Check your inbox for your unique API key.
Install the ShortPixel plugin for WordPress.
Under the plugin settings, paste in your API key.
By default Shotpixel will choose recommended settings. Make adjustments as needed.
Sit back and relax while new and existing images get compressed!

3. Add NitroPack for WordPress

Think of NitroPack as a secret weapon. Page speed tests are great, but need manual changes to improve site speed. NitroPack is an excellent alternative for bot tech savvy and not so tech savvy users alike. It works on WordPress and handles all your speed boost changes automatically.

This is one of those site upgrades that’s worth spending a little money on because it’s a big return on your investment (I mean why create content if no one is going to stick around long enough to read it?). I opt for the paid Business plan which gives me 50,000 page views and the ability to remove the NitroPack branding. The cost of this package is a steal when you compare it to the value it provides.

After you run NitroPack, run another page speed test to see dramatic results in load times.

Rethink your opt-in

Is your freebie related to your offer?

Freebies and opt-ins are an essential part of your blog strategy. When used well, they can build your mailing list and help you engage with readers directly. Unfortunately all opt-ins are NOT created equal.

Review your opt-in to make sure:

It provides extreme value to readers.

Freebies that provide real value makes signing up for your mailing list a no brainer. It also builds the trust between your audience and your brand. When creating a freebies ask yourself about the value your reader will get. Are you giving them something that’s different than anything else out there? Think about what makes your offer special. These are also great tidbits for you landing page and Pinterest pins.

It has a clear path in your sales funnel

The other area to figure out is whether you have a clear goal in mind for the freebie. Remember you don’t want to attract just any one to your mailing list. You want to attract the RIGHT people. Setting a clear goal for how a reader goes from sign up to customer will go a long way in helping your reader convert. Write out your sales funnel and decide how your freebie fits into the bigger picture. If you can’t find a place for the freebie, it’s probably not the right fit for your audience. In those instances, remove it and start fresh.

Let’s look at an example.

Suppose you have a personal finance blog. Before creating a freebie, think about what you want the reader to buy. This could be a budget binder, a money makeover ebook, or even a course for getting out of debt.

Once you have a clear goal in mind, think through a freebie offer that would be the step before your paid offer.

The easy choice would be a budget, but does it provide extreme value? There are a ton of budget sheets out there and you want yours to stand out in a major way. What if instead you created a 7-day email course? In the course, you could talk about money mentality and share a budget worksheet. An email course could:

Help readers rethink their relationship with money by giving small actionable steps (now that’s extreme value)
Showcase the quality they can expect from your brand
Give a logical path to your paid offer

Within your email course you might share a tip on the importance of looking at your finances. This could lead right into a pitch for your paid ebook for a 30 day money makeover. The ebook would be in line with a step in their financial journey making it an easy sell.

Incorporate a digital product

In Blog Savvy Bootcamp we talked a lot about the power of digital products. Aside from being able keep the profits, a digital product can be the push your reader needs to take action. You can create a digital product based on just about anything so let’s look at two of my favorites.

Ebooks

Ebooks are great because they work for any niche. You can create an ebook on starting a garden, building a yurt, or changing your money mentality. The possibilities are endless. What’s nice is that ebooks can be short, sweet ways to help your reader with a specific part of their journey.

Creating an e-book is straightforward, especially if you use a product like Canva to create it. Canva is one of my top five new blogger tools, and it’s some thing that you can always find use for. Canva is excellent for creating designer graphics without having to be a designer.

Courses

Sometimes you want to take the learning experience to the next level. A course will help you bring ebook topics and blog posts to life and give you “face time” with your readers. It’s another way to engage with your audience on a deeper level to build trust.

Podia is one of my favorite teaching platforms. I use it to provide a hands on learning experience to my readers. With Podia you can create lessons, build quizzes, and add digital files. This is a good option if you know a lot about a particular area. Just like any product ensure your course gives extreme value to your audience. They’ll appreciate you for it.

You don’t need to be an expert to create a course. Focus on creating genuine content that is s helpful to your readers. You can always ask for feedback and improve the course as you go along.

Take advantage of affiliate links in your posts

OK you’ve done the legwork to make sure that you are providing value to your audience. Your site loads fast and your freebie leads to your paid offer.

Your next task is incorporating affiliate marketing links into your existing posts. An affiliate offer lets you promote products you love in exchange for a small commission. Read through your posts, and see where you can add these unique links.

Keep links relevant to your niche and the post. Aim for products that you have tried yourself first or do your due diligence for any new products. Don’t be afraid to tell your readers if you haven’t tried a product yourself. It’ll go along way in building your relationship with them.

Want to learn more about monetizing your blog with affiliate marketing? Check out The Secret to Making Affiliate Sales This Week Even if You’ve Never Sold Anything in Your Life

Focus on reader value

Building trust with your audience should always be a top priority for your blog. Here are simple steps you can follow build a relationship with your readers fast.

A professional touch

What do you like most about the blogs you read? You probably look for a professional design, a custom domain name, and a custom email address. Ok maybe not those last two, but I’m sure there are a handful of things you expect to see. Especially if you’re planning to give up your hard earned money.

You see, if you invest in theses little areas of your brand, your audience is far more likely to invest in you. Show your readers you take pride in your blog business by:

Adding a custom domain and email
Including legal pages like Privacy policy and Terms and Conditions
Removing any broken links
Setting up an LLC so readers know their dealing with a real business

Ask for feedback from your mailing list

Sometimes you just don’t know what you don’t know. The best way to get feedback from readers is through your weekly newsletter.

Try reaching out to readers about their experience. Doing this not only shows them you value their opinion, but can help you make improvements.

Ask specific questions to get what you’re looking for and to get more responses. Instead of saying, “what do you like about my site?“, you might focus on a specific product.

Instead, try something like:

“How was your experience building a garden after reading My Awesome Gardening Ebook?” or
“What almost stopped you from purchasing the meal prep planner?”

These questions get at the root of what you’re looking for and the answers can serve as testimonials for your site.

Set the mood

You also want to think about the users experience as they move through your site. Here are some questions to consider:

How easy is it to find things?
If a reader wants to contact you, is there a clear place that they can go?
Is your site littered with unrelated ads, offers, or opt-ins?
Are your social media links easy to find?
Do your pages open in new windows? (grrrrr…I hate when i lose my place clicking a link)
Are your blog posts consistent?
Are you including links to relevant and reputable sites?

All these questions speak to site usability and build trust when done right.

Mind map the reader journey and create relevant content around it

I get a lot of questions about how I know what my readers want. Kate Doster, said it best:

“You have to know your reader on a stalker level.”

Document your reader’s journey within your niche using a mind map. A mind map is an outline of all the things that a user would need to reach their goals.

There are steps to go from having no garden to having the garden of your dreams where you can grow your own food. It’s your job to outline what those steps are so you can plan out what a reader will need along the way.

It’s a win-win because you can also include products and offers that can help them every step of the way.